


I Guess in the Abstract

by MercurialComet



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Ghost Quartet - Malloy
Genre: Ghost Quartet AU, Multi, Non-Linear Narrative, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth, Philosophy, Reincarnation, Time Loop, circular story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21984673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurialComet/pseuds/MercurialComet
Summary: A tale in which Dimitri falls for a man in a tree, Claude zones out, Edelgard fails to dance by herself, and Byleth is gonna play cello with a rock and roll band.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Edelgard von Hresvelg & My Unit | Byleth & Claude von Riegan, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Edelgard von Hresvelg, Edelgard von Hresvelg/Claude von Riegan, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	1. Side 1, Track 1. "I Don't Know"

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Ghost Quartet AU, which means nothing will make sense at the beginning. This first chapter/song is simply to tell you what to expect.  
> This story will be telling multiple stories, with multiple characters, at multiple times, many of which are out of order.  
> If you get confused, there will (hopefully) be a lovely summary in the later notes to (hopefully) keep you on track.
> 
> I suggest you listen to the live soundtrack as you go through each chapter.

Now, Claude doesn’t know what he’s been told in life. But that’s true of everything he thinks he knows.

~~ He first finds himself without the knowledge of Fodlan’s crest system. ~~

Edelgard doesn’t even know where to begin. 

Dimitri doesn’t even know who he is. Is he here? 

Is anyone here?

He stays awake most every night, thinking about the Kingdom, waiting for a glimpse of hope to appear.

Where are their ghosts in the mirror? The ones that will haunt them for all of their lives?

All three lords have a thousand and one stories. And every single one of them is false.

Claude starts to read a story, a small romance that threatens to have him fall asleep in boredom. Edelgard reads, and the other two listen. Anything for this terrible night to pass.

When Byleth was a child, they used to play. “Play” was a generous term to talking to the voice in their head, but that was a long time ago. That’s not them anymore.

Now, Edelgard rides the subway every night, keeping her head down to stare at the game on her phone. She answers a text from Hubert, the pang in her heart when Ferdinand responds reminding her that she’s all alone.

Claude and Byleth wonder as they wander around the monastery. Is this even them at all? Is this a ghost of them that they dreamed up just to sing themselves to sleep later that night?

Is this someone that Dimitri used to be? Someone that he will be? Or someone that he is right now?

Are they people that they used to be, the people that they will be, or people who they are right now?


	2. Side 1, Track 2. "The Camera Shop."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dimitri goes to replace his camera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact, Rose is the only character who can be played by an actor of any gender, although lyrically, this takes some fudging of pronouns and names

Dimitri pushed open the door, slightly wincing as the hinges squeaked. The shop was small, homey, a whole in the wall in Enbarr’s capital. He noticed a woman at the cash register with brown hair, reading a magazine. “Excuse me?”

The woman looked up. “Oh, can I help you?”

He sighed. “I hope so. I lost my camera”

“Did someone steal it?” She looked sympathetic.

“No.” Dimitri said. “It got smashed.”

The woman hummed, thinking to herself for a minute. “Maybe we can repair it?”

“It got smashed and lost!” Dimitri snapped, guilt coming up his throat in waves to drown him once more- “The pieces are lost.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” She reached behind the counter and pulled out a bottle and some glasses, pouring drinks. “Here, have some whiskey.”

Dimitri took a sip, noting that the taste was very familiar: Brigid brewed alcohol. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The woman stepped out from her spot, her own glass in her hand. “It was a real camera? Not a phone?”

“No, it wasn’t a phone.” Dimitri held up his phone in proof. “I’m not a big fan of phones.”

She nodded. “Me neither.” 

As she took a sip of her drink, Dimitri thought he saw a dark expression cross her face. When he blinked, she was neutral again, speaking to him. “-we’ll get you set up with a new camera. But sit first, drink a bit. You need to take care of yourself.”

“Thank you.” Dimitri says as he takes a seat. There was a pause in the room for a few minutes as the two drank from their glasses before the woman spoke again.

“Are you traveling?”

“Yes. From Blaiddyd.”

“Oh, I’ve been there once. That’s where the Kingdom’s castle is, right?”

Dimitri internally sighs. “That’s in Fhirdiad.”

“Oh.” Dimitri feels awkward as the information hits her. “I get them mixed up. Did you grow up there?”

“Yes. When I was younger.”

The woman stares at the wall wistfully. “That’s nice.” She says after some time. “It’s nice to have roots.”

Dimitri finds himself curious about her now. “What about you? How long have you been here?”

“This store?” The woman waves her hand around in a grand gesture. “It’s been in my family for four generations.”

“Wow.” He’s truly impressed.

“Do you see that fiddle on the wall?” She points, and there it is, a pale white little fiddle. “It belonged to my great-grandfather. His name was Rose.”

“Rose…” Dimitri finds himself immediately entranced by the story, still gazing at the fiddle. “That name sounds so familiar.”

She smiles. “It’s a beautiful name. Old fashioned, you may not hear it a lot anymore.”

A question throws itself into “I’m sorry, but I have to ask, the color of the fiddle is so light, what is it made of?”

Her smile dims a bit. “An old breastbone.”

“A bit creepy.” He chuckles.

“It was the breastbone of his sister.” She explains, moving back to the register. “Her name was Pearl.” She takes her seat again, staring back at Dimitri. “I’ll tell you the story.”

For a split second, Dimitri feels like she is looking into his soul.

“Rose and Pearl lived by the sea,” She started, “gathering salt by the moonlight-”

“And Rose loved a man,” Dimitri heard himself say, his mouth moving to pick up the story as she spoke, “who lived in the trees. Rose cried to Pearl, ‘Hold me tight, hold me tight!’”

“Well, one day Rose went to his treehouse.” She continued speaking, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Just to look at the stars through his telescope-”

“Rose wanted to hold his hand-”

“So, Rose wrote him a poem-”

“Signed it and sealed it-”

“In a rice paper envelope-”

“With a lily for a stamp!” There was a long silence as the two stopped speaking, both of them realizing the way that they had been swapping in between sentences. The woman cleared her throat.

“But the man stole his work.” She continued. “The man was the editor of a prestigious astronomy journal. He wrote down all Rose saw, and published it under his own name. So, Rose grew to hate him, and Pearl caught his eye-”

Dimitri felt his world spin quickly. “I’m a little confused, and quite frankly, very frightened.”

“It’s okay,  _ Dimitri. _ This is a circular story.” She takes a breath while Dimitri wonders how she ever knew his name. “So, Rose then ran into the forest and asked a great bear to maul the astronomer, turn Pearl into a crow, and put both in a cave to be sealed with magic until the crow started to starve, so she’d have no choice but to peck out the eyes of her lover and eat them.”

Horror floods Dimitri’s system. “I don’t believe any of this!”

“Don’t you remember?!” The woman snarled. “The bear named their price-”

As she speaks, Dimitri swears he can hear another voice, saying the items along with her. “One pot of honey, one piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost.”

“One pot of honey,” He finds himself repeating, almost against his will as the memory becomes slightly less muddy. “One piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost?”

She nodded sagely, putting up a finger. “Rose stole the honey from a soldier-”

“He pretended to love-”

Put up two fingers. “Stole stardust from an ancient-”

“He pretended to care-”

“And for the baptism,” She stated, putting up a third. “Rose stole a baby from it’s father, a frightened teenager in a mansion. He threw the child into the sea-”

“-And the child-”

“Was blessed.” They finished together, Dimitri’s eyes wide as he started to remember.


	3. Side 1, Track 3. "Starchild"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But they were blessed by a stranger. And they will transcend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new years!

When Byleth was a baby, they knew they were blessed by a stranger. Their heart never beat, and the whispers of a goddess reminded them of waters they didn’t remember swimming in.

Edelgard knows she’s infected, filled with disbelief and blasphemy.

Claude regrets leaving his holy land.

Dimitri is a ghost. He must be to see all of the others. He has to be a ghost in the eyes of the Goddess.

But Byleth will transcend. And Edelgard will purge the loser out of her. Claude will become the next big thing. Dimitri will light himself on fire.

It’s time for them all to get out of bed, and be the starchildren they can be.

When someone shares a thought with Edelgard a billion light years away, she thinks it’s a joke at first. The man is already turned to dust. THe starlight that any of them see is a billion light years old, practically one of Dimitri’s ghosts in how immaterial, yet forceful, it is.

It feels like nothing they see is there anymore.

But hey, Edelgard will transcend, Claude will vomit this loser out of him, Dimitri will be the next big thing, and Byleth will light themselves on fire. They all just get out of bed and be the starchild they can be.


	4. Side 1, Track 4. "Subway"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the subway tunnels are introduced.

Claude doesn’t really enjoy his time with the Empire Transportation Agency, especially having to spend all of these hours in the dark and damp subway tunnels. It’s boring to always have to control the trains, but hey, it brings in the money he needs as a college student. Besides, now there’s a driver.

Edelgard waits for the subway to arrive, pulling out her phone as she yawned. Unbeknownst to her, she exists here, so there’s a victim.

Byleth is so tired of these fucking divine pulses. Their hair turned white-green, they’ve had a constant headache, and the end is coming anyway, so what does it matter? Apparently to Sothis, something matters here, because Byleth knows that there’s a pusher for the scene.

Dimitri finishes texting Sylvain, putting his phone away before the redhead could send him any more texts. The weight of his camera hangs on his neck, because wherever he goes, there’s a photographer.

One of the worst things about working as a subway driver is that it’s so boring, and Claude was already exhausted, so of course he would zone out somewhere.

Edelgard checked her twitter quickly before she went to a game, still waiting for the subway.

Byleth finds themself moving before they can think about it. Before their brain catches up with their actions, they feel a primal scream rip from their throat, their anger at Sothis, Seiros, and all of the saints falling out in that one shout.

Dimitri is too distracted to be able to help with the situation in front of him.

And the game is on her phone. In the game, her character is a soldier. In the game, she’s facing a bear. And in the game the bear roars. Edelgard smiles, selecting the sword-

And the pusher gives a push.

And Claude, though wide awake, finds himself unable to stop. And Edelgard is too frazzled to climb. Byleth can’t stop, and Dimitri is useless and in shock.

Somewhere else the driver has a drink. And the victim has a drink. And the pusher has a drink. And the photographer has a drink.

Yet, there’s a person on this subway platform, screaming about the apocalypse, the end of days, the hatred that Sothis has for the world, the day of revelation that’s at hand.

_ Reveal it to me. Reveal me everything. Reveal it to me please right now. _


	5. Side 1, Track 5. "Usher, Part One."

Edelgard suffers from a family evil: her crest and the burning one sticks in her veins, turning her into a slave to terror. Her senses are deathly sharp, and she can only eat the most insipid foods, wear garments of certain textures, and avoid the greenhouse, for its flowers are oppressive in odor. Low light gives her headaches and memories she doesn’t want to remember, and she doesn’t have to tense up when she hears stringed instruments playing.

Edelgard finds herself dreading a future, though she doesn’t know which one yet. But it is definitely the one in which her little son is dying.

* * *

It’s a cold, dark, and soundless day this autumn evening, Riegan reasons. He has quite the amount of time to do so now that he and his wife just spend their time sitting at the bed of the youngest child: Xander.

The bleak walls of the manor, the decaying trees in the garden, the utter depression that the air seems to carry lingers in everyone’s soul. Everyday life, that bitter ghost, launches it’s icy daggers into hearts that used to be so vibrant.

For a strong seventeen years, Xander had danced. Danced so beautifully on the edge of a star after being taken in by the mis-mashed family. Riegan himself didn’t see the need to hide the fact that he was Almyran, and Lady Hresvelg was not ashamed of her pale white hair. Byleth was quiet, but still rose to their parents’ side whenever someone attempted to mock them, and Xander-

Xander was the shining jewel of the family. Until he came back with a child in his arms, talking about how the mother had run off when she could-

But that was a year ago, and now the child is gone, stolen from under their noses. Xander blames himself while he wastes away: liquid eyes, thin lips, pale skin, and spider web hair showing how distraught and ill he was.

“Where are they?” he whispers, “Where are they? Where’s my starchild?”

His friend was long gone, an astronomer of some renown-

“Have you all left me?” he sobs, “Did you all disappear?”

Lady Hresvelg buries her face in her hands before she sobs. 

Only astonishment and dread exists in the house of Riegan, the man realizes.


	6. Side 1, Track 6. "Soldier and Rose"

Edelgard sings as she gets ready for battle. She is a soldier now, and as a soldier she finds herself quite used to death. Ghosts don’t bother her, they never have, because she knows that her time is limited. Some moaning in the dark at night while she’s taking care of her brown hair isn’t going to change that, it’s nothing big. 

It’s nothing like Rose as she enters the dance floor.

Rose smiles, and the soldier feels mostly at ease. His smile seems so genuine, if a bit crooked. “Join me, soldier?” he asks, and she nods, starting to make her way over as they make eye contact. “If I told you that I loved you, would you give me some honey?”

_ Why does he need some honey? Couldn’t he just get some from the store? _ It doesn’t matter anyway, she’s got hers coming, it’s just a matter of time.

The two speak for a bit, watching as others dance on the floor. The soldier ignores a stranger who requests to dance with her, focusing on Rose as he spoke with such a princely air.

They’ll both say that their hearts have leapt in their throats. They feel electric pulses in their fingertips.

Rose laughs. “Would you believe me?” He asks, smiling with those pearly whites. “Do you believe in love?”

“I am a soldier.” She says, putting her drink aside. “I don’t believe in anything. But if you want some honey, just wait until I am drunk-” She quickly finishes her drink and orders another. “Then take me onto the dancefloor, let me cry against your cheek. If you would take me to the alley afterwards, and there happens to be a shot-” 

Rose is quiet, letting her speak.

“I won’t speak. Not even a word. I won’t come back to haunt you.” She promises. “I won’t have the time to.”


End file.
